Family Secrets
by NessaMoon
Summary: And they said that because you were a monster, we were children of a monster.” Naruto's children experience hate and now a secret Naruto has kept from them has to be told. How will Naruto and Hinata take this? Oneshot.


Title: Family Secrets  
Genre: Fluff? *not sure* Help?  
Timeline: After end of manga  
Summary: "And they said that because you were a monster, we were children of a monster." Naruto's children experience hate and now a secret Naruto has kept from them has to be told. How will Naruto and Hinata take this?  
Pairings: NaruHina  
Rating: G  
Disclaimer: If I was Kishimoto, I would be in Japan right now, not in VA watching the news (having just finished watching dubbed Naruto).  
Author's Notes: As always, ignore the possible theories I have included in my fic at the moment. I like my theories and my stories tend to not function without them (at least in my mind, they can't).

"Daddy!"

Naruto frowned at the frantic tone in his seven year old daughter's voice. He knew Hoshiko's attitude very well. After all, she was a near copy of him, however this did not sound like a fight or disagreement with Uchiha Satoru. Those had been the only times when she had came rushing into the Hyuuga compound screaming his name.

Hanging up his Hokage coat, he turned around to greet her and find out what was wrong…only to be knocked to the ground as she jumped onto him.

He grunted as his head collided with the wooden floor. Automatically, he grabbed a hold of Hoshiko, but this only served to give her a better vantage point to scream in his face. "Daddy! Something bad happened at school today!"

"Easy, Hoshi-chan," he said, cheerfully, trying to calm her down and ignore the headache he felt coming (with the floor not with his daughter). Carefully, he sat up, keeping Hoshiko on his lap. Haruki, Hoshiko's twin brother, came up to them, his face a bubbling brook of worry and fear.

Staring at them both, he still felt surprised that these two precious children had come from him (despite the taunts from Sasuke that Hoshiko was his female clone). Haruki was the younger of the two, born nearly four minutes after Hoshiko. He looked a lot like Naruto, had his face and build, however, his personality was more like Hinata's. He wore a blue and white jumpsuit; it looked a lot one he wore when he was twelve. He had the white Hyuuga eyes and dark blue, semi-spiky hair.

Hoshiko, on other hand, was loud, hyper and cared a lot more about pranks and her rivalry with Satoru than anything else. Her blond hair was up in two pigtails and had pale blue eyes, which turned into the white active Byakugan when she triggered them. She wore an orange jacket, shirt and bright blue pants, which reminded Naruto of how Hinata dressed when she was a genin. Both of the twins had the Hyuuga symbol and Naruto's personal symbol on their shoulders and back of their jackets.

Their birth had been interesting, or rather after their birth. Both children had the same whisker-like marks Naruto had on his cheeks. For weeks, they were looked over; just to be sure the marks were nothing serious and had nothing to do with the sealed Kyuubi. Not finding anything, everyone had concluded since Naruto had fused so much with the fox's chakra, he would pass down some traits like the whisker marks.

Kiba joked that he was starting a new clan.

Mentally rolling his eyes over Kiba's response, he put on a confronting smile for his son and daughter and asked, "What's up? What happened in school? Surely your first day couldn't be that bad?"

Haruki shook his head while Hoshiko madly shook hers. "No!" she said. "Our day was fine. It was what happened _after_, when we started to go home."

"There were these kids," said Haruki softly, his eyes downward and his voice trembling like he was about to cry. He did not stutter like his mother and Hinata constantly kept his confidence up, but he was still painfully shy. "They saw us and the marks on our face. They said we were children of a monster."

Immediately, Naruto tightened his grip on Hoshiko and desperately wished he could do the same with Haruki. In the years since he had earned the respect of the village and the eleven months since he had become Hokage, insults from the villagers had become non-existent. His children had not faced any of the resentment directed at him as a child so this put him on his guard at once. No one insulted his children!

Furthermore, his children had no knowledge of the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. Naruto and Hinata had planned to explain that when they were a bit older since the subject was basically a non-issue (Kyuubi was in no danger of escaping, no one insulted him like before and they were at peace with the rest of the world).

However, someone saw fit to make him explain things earlier than he and Hinata had planned.

"What else did these kids say?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and keep himself from racing out of the compound to find the kids in question.

"Hige asked what they were talking about," explained Hoshiko, referring to Kiba's daughter. "And they said that because you were a monster, we were children of a monster."

"You didn't fight these kids, did you?" he asked, noticing her angry face. Secretly, he hoped she had beaten them up, but did not voice that thought. Hinata would not approve and deep down, as much as he hated to admit it, he knew it would be wrong as well.

"No," she said, now appearing very disappointed that she had not. "Satoru glared at them and said no one said anything bad about our Hokage and got away with it and dared them to say anything more."

"Shikaki and Inomaru dragged Hoshiko away before she could do anything," added Haruki. Naruto almost smirked; he could imagine her screaming and demanding to fight the kids while being hauled off by her friends. Pity she did not actually get her wish.

"But after we left, Sonomi was saying how mean those kids were and Shiki mentioned something about feelings still the same in some places." Hoshiko looked up at Naruto, her pale eyes questioning. "What did Shiki mean? He wouldn't explain when we asked."

Naruto grimaced. If there was one thing he feared, it was losing those close to him. He lost parents before he even knew he had any. Lost a friend and brother to evil. Lost mentors to evil. But then he gained a father, brought his friend and brother back and, while mourning his mentors, got back up and defeated the evil that brought them down. He held all his friends close, his dearest friends even closer and now his children…his beloved children…would he lose them? How could he gain them back if they feared or hated him over the Kyuubi?

Not knowing the answer to his question, he had pushed away the issue. Let them be happy and hopefully, one day, when they were older, he would tell them and hope they understood. He really did not want to answer their questions right now, but knew he had no choice. The time had come, whether he wanted it to or not.

"Hoshi-chan, Haruki, why don't you two go into the kitchen?" He stood up and put Hoshiko down. She looked like she was about to protest until Naruto added, "I'll get your mother and then we'll have some ramen to discuss this, okay?"

The mention of ramen caused both children's eyes to light up. Hoshiko cheered while Haruki smiled. Both said okay and ran toward the kitchen. Sighing and rubbing the back of his head, Naruto headed toward his and Hinata's bedroom.

Hinata pulled the hair pin out of her hair and let it fall down. It had been a hard day for her, the Hyuuga council not being very receptive to the policies she and Neji wanted to implement. Of course, they still were none too happy with the fact she and Neji shared the role of Hyuuga leader.

_I never thought changing the clan would be this hard_, thought Hinata. _But we won't give up, I won't give up. And Naruto-kun will help us if we need it._

Smiling, she put the hair pin down on her dresser and got up and was about to lie down when Naruto walked in. He grinned sheepishly at her with one hand behind his head. "Hey, Hinata! Eh we kind of have a problem."

"Oh?" Hinata looked at him thoughtfully. Despite his smile, he appeared to be conflicted over something and he rarely brought dilemmas home with him, if there even was one. The world was at peace, after all. "What kind of problem? Did something happen with Sasuke again?" asked Hinata, thinking the two of them had gotten into another argument, but surely it could not be that bad.

"That reminds me." Naruto looked annoyed, a sure-fire sign that something had happened between the two of them. "I've got to remember to give him a D-Class mission tomorrow."

She giggled, knowing full well he was not entirely serious. The clashes between the two were kind of amusing, their fights as best friends and rivals. Sakura still did not think much of them and constantly got involved. "I don't think you can do that," she pointed out, through her giggles.

Naruto made a sulky face as he walked over to their bed and sat down. "Fine. I'll give him an S-Class mission, but hide it in a D-Class scroll. I'm not going to let him get away with saying that, through."

He smirked, but then that smirk faded and his face grew somber. So if the problem was not concerning him and Sasuke, then what was it? Sitting down next to him on the bed, she took his hand. "Naruto-kun? What happened?"

He explained about the kids who had insulted their children and what had happened after that. "From the sound of it," he said after finishing, "those kids must be vacationing with that man who nearly caused a riot last week."

Hinata would have remembered that incident quite well even if it had been a year ago. The man in question had been eating at a local dango shop. He had asked the owner about the state of the village since he lived in the countryside and was only in the village for a holiday once a year. Naruto had been Hokage for almost eleven months and the villagers were rather fond and proud of Naruto, some bragging about their new Hokage to travelers. However, the dango shop owner had accidentally revealed the Hokage's special 'status,' not knowing the man had had family killed by a Jinchuuriki in the past.

Later that night, the man, drunk apparently, had ran to Hokage tower, shouting he would get revenge for his family's deaths, not really caring about the fact that Naruto was not even the one who had committed the crime.

The villagers had come to Naruto's defense, but a riot nearly happened because of it. While Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and the others tried to calm down the man, Naruto had used Kage Bunshin to restrain the crowd. The event had not upset Naruto too much, but he had been profoundly touched by the actions of the villagers (through he did not want many people to know that).

Hinata stared at her husband, taking in his uncharacteristic worried face. "Naruto-kun?" she asked softly. "Do these children's words hurt you?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it's not that. I'm fine with that, really!" He grinned, but she could tell he was somewhat faking his happy expression. "There's always going to be someone who hates me due to what I am, besides…" Hinata smiled slightly, seeing all traces of pain disappearing. "The village respects me and I have Sasuke, Sakura and you and the rest of our friends so there's nothing for me to get upset over."

He grinned, but then it faded and the worried look came back. He caressed her hand while he stared into the wooden floor as if it were not even there.

"So if it's not what the kids said," started Hinata, realizing the source of the problem, "then it's because we now have to tell Hoshiko and Haruki about you and Kyuubi?" At first, Naruto said nothing, but then he closed his eyes and hid his face and Hinata knew she had guessed right. She held his hand tighter than before. Before the twins were even born, they had both decided to wait until their children had reached the age of ten or even when they became genin before telling them about Kyuubi.

They kept telling themselves (or rather, Naruto kept telling himself) that by that time, their children would be able to understand why a horrible demon had been sealed inside their father. However, their other friends had explained to their children already and their children loved Naruto to pieces so Hinata believed the reason why Naruto was so reluctant to tell his own was because he feared they would become afraid of him as a result.

"You can go to Sasuke and Sakura if you want," she suggested, hoping that by going to his friends, they might help ease his fears while she explained things to their children.

But Naruto shook his head. "No, I've got to tell them, or at least, be there when you do." He clutched her hand equally tight. "I…just have to be there."

She nodded, but concerned over how very troubled he was. _He's right_, she thought. _If we talk to them, we'll talk to them together. Naruto-kun is never one to run away and he won't run away now even if he's very worried at the moment._ Standing up and heading to the door, she pulled Naruto with her down the hall and gave him a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. Our children love you and that won't change ever."

She received a shaky smile in return.

The Uzumakis' sat around the kitchen table; Naruto sitting across from Hoshiko and Haruki across from Hinata while next to her sat Naruto. Four bowls of ramen sat in front of them, Hoshiko already holding her chopsticks in preparation. Haruki looked down at his bowl and then at each of his parents. "Um…"

Hinata looked over at her son with a soft smile. "Well, I suppose we should explain things now." She looked over at Naruto, but he had his head down, staring at his ramen. _He really is afraid he'll lose them_, she thought sadly. _And there's nothing he can fight against to keep them here._

"So what's going on?" asked Hoshiko. "Why is Daddy so miserable? He wasn't like that before."

"Hoshiko, Haruki, do you remember the story of the Fourth Hokage?" asked Hinata, thinking it was best to start at the beginning.

Both children nodded. "Yep," exclaimed Hoshiko. "The Fourth was the best Hokage, next to Daddy. He saved the village from a bad fox, but he died from it. Oh!" She grinned. "And he's our grandfather! He's a real hero."

"The fox was a nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi," said Haruki. "It's one of the dangerous tailed beasts of the world."

"That's right, but do you remember how the Fox was defeated?"

The twins glanced at each other. Hoshiko shook her head. Haruki stared at his ramen, thinking. "You just told us Kyuubi was defeated and that's what our history books at the Ninja Academy say. And the others," he added as if remembering something, "they look really strange when we talk about it. Except Sonomi. She looks as confused as us."

"That doesn't surprise me," responded Hinata. "Sasuke and Sakura likely haven't told Sonomi just yet, she is two years younger than all of you."

"Told Sonomi what?" asked Hoshiko, looking very confused. Naruto was still staring at his ramen, a strange scene since most of the time he was gobbling down his favorite food.

"Well," started Hinata, hoping the children took this well, for Naruto's sake, "a demon like Kyuubi can't be killed so your grandfather had to seal the demon."

"Seal it in what?" piped in Hoshiko, bouncing excitedly around in her seat. "Can we summon it and the Kyuubi works for us? Isn't that how sealing works? Can you summon him now?"

"Hoshiko," injected her brother, "Not all sealing works like Dad's Frog summoning."

Hoshiko did not look happy at having her scenario ruined. "But what's the point in not using the Fox? He might get mad like that. At least if we bring him out, he can stretch his legs and breathe fresh air just like Daddy's toads." She nodded smugly as if everything she said actually made sense while Haruki tried to tell her Kyuubi might not be very nice even unsealed. Hinata tried not to laugh at her daughter's logic. Even Naruto was stifling his laugh.

"Haruki's right, Hoshi-chan." Her daughter began to pout, her visions now officially ruined. "The Kyuubi can't be released whenever we want. The Fourth Hokage sealed the fox inside of a baby."

"Would that hurt the baby?" asked Haruki. At the same time, Hoshiko squeaked. "A baby? Does that mean the baby is a demon?" Naruto, however, shuddered at his daughter's words.

Closing her eyes, Hinata brought herself to her full height while sitting. Both children's eyes grew wide as they recognized their mother was being serious about something. "No, having Kyuubi inside someone does not make someone a demon," she said in a soft yet stern voice. "And no, the baby isn't hurt. The baby is able to use Kyuubi's chakra when he gets older and there are some other abilities as well."

Haruki tilted his head to one side. "So what does that mean? Do we know…?" Suddenly Haruki's eyes grew wide. He looked at Naruto, back at Hinata and then at Naruto again. Hoshiko stared at him impatiently. "Well? What is it, Haruki?"

"You see," interrupted Hinata, "the baby the Fourth sealed Kyuubi in was…" She glanced concerned over at Naruto who was bracing himself for the reaction. "Your father."

Silence. Dead silence followed.

Then Hoshiko screamed. Naruto jumped and fell out of his chair. Before Hinata could even begin to speak, Hoshiko bounced out of her chair and ran over to her father. "You have Kyuubi inside of you, Daddy?" she squealed. "Does that mean you can turn into the Fox? Is that how you defeated that mean snake person? Did Uncle Sasuke and Aunt Sakura stand on your back? Maybe Uncle Sasuke used Katon: Fireball Jutsu and Aunt Sakura would jump off and go smash! Is that what happened? Is it? Is it? Is it, Daddy?"

Naruto stared blankly into his daughter's adoring eyes. She seemed to be much happier thinking her father could turn into this giant fox and conquer every one of his past enemies like that.

In fact, she did not seem to be concerned over the Fox at all.

Hinata smiled as she got up and gently pried Hoshiko away from her father's shocked face. She just knew the twins would take this well, even if Hoshiko's response was a bit…extreme. They would have to talk to her about that later, that this was not something to take lightly, but for now, her reaction only served to show Naruto he would not be hated by his daughter. "Sorry, sweetie, but that's not how things work."

Once again, she pouted, crossing her arms and sat cross-legged on the floor. "Well, why can't they? It'll be more fun that way. Wait…Mommy? You said the baby had abilities? Does that mean we have Kyuubi abilities, too?" Her face lit up, clearly liking the idea of having abilities like the Kyuubi's.

"Uh…" Naruto spoke for the first time, his blue eyes staring questioning at his only daughter. "Not really. The two of you seem to have inherited a large amount of chakra, a fast healing rate and those marks on your faces, but that's it. However, the first two are not as large or fast as mine, I guess since Kyuubi's sealed with me."

"Really the talents you possess aren't connected to Kyuubi at all," added Hinata. "We checked to make sure of that."

Hoshiko sulked. Haruki slipped out of his chair, his face carefully vacant. "Dad? Kyuubi's really inside of you?" Naruto nodded. "And when those kids called you a monster, that's what they meant?" Again, a nod. "But…why?"

"Yeah!" Hoshiko raised her arms in anger. "Why did they call you a monster? You're not a monster!"

Naruto closed his eyes, his face serious and sad. "People don't exactly trust something that used to kill them," he said. Hoshiko opened her mouth, but Hinata squeezed her shoulder a bit and she closed it and let her father continue. "Granted, I wasn't the one that killed anyone that day, but I contained the creature that did and people needed a scapegoat so I became the object of their hate."

"That's not fair," whispered Haruki.

Hinata nodded. "You're right, it's not, but sometimes fairness has to be created by us. It's not freely given and sometimes, people don't want to be fair."

"Like how the Hyuuga house used to be divided into two houses?" asked Hoshiko.

"That's right," said Naruto, opening his eyes and smiling at his daughter's insight. "You know, I kind of got lucky. I had people who cared about me in the beginning. Like Iruka-sensei and later, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. Not every one like me had the same luck."

That information intrigued the twins. They both knew Naruto was very close to Iruka-sensei and his former team. Even at a young age, they could see the close bonds he had developed with his friends, different from those he had made with the others. "You remember Gaara, don't you?" asked Hinata.

Both nodded. The children loved him; Hoshiko thought he was funny being so quiet and with the dark circles permanently around his eyes. They were also friends with his daughter, Shiori. "Well," she continued, "Gaara had a demon inside of him as well and…" The children's eyes grew wide. "When we took our first Chuunin Exam, we were greatly afraid of him because all he knew was hate and killing."

"But – Uncle Gaara…He's so nice! Quiet, but really nice!"

Haruki nodded his agreement with his sister. "Did you know about that demon inside of him?"

"No." Naruto shook his head. "Not at first. Gaara didn't have anyone, not like I did. And all anyone ever showed him was hate so he returned it." He brought the twins together, his face returning to being serious. Hinata hardly saw him this severe, even as Hokage, he was usually smiling, making a joke or two or getting into arguments with his former teammates. Only in front of stiff opposition would he forgo his typical prankster attitude.

To Hinata, it just reinforced how painfully significant this subject meant to Naruto.

"You guys remember the things I said about not judging others based on what others say or their appearances?" Both indicated their agreement. "This is why I told you all that. This is why, you shouldn't judge people by appearances or their abilities or even if they have a demon inside of them." Then he smiled and Hinata could tell he was back to his old self, his old, happy, fun-loving self. "I'm really proud of you guys, you know."

He brought them in for a hug and the twins responded back, Hoshiko laughing cheerfully, Haruki grinning, but then the boy frowned and stepped back. "Dad? Did you think we wouldn't love you anymore if we knew about the demon?"

Hoshiko looked at her brother and then her father with her mouth open in shock. Hinata almost had to smile at her young son's perception of the situation while Naruto come across as mildly surprised, Haruki's observations no longer astounding him like they used to. "Daddy!" exclaimed Hoshiko. "Is that true?"

Naruto had the decency to appear embarrassed by this. He sheepishly scratched his cheek and then his head. "Well, kind of, yeah."

Hoshiko gasped. Then she turned and took Naruto's bowl of ramen off the table. "Daddy, I can't believe you would think we wouldn't love you anymore." She nodded in a stern fashion that looked funny on a seven year old girl. "For punishment, I take away your ramen." And then she ran away, bowl of pork ramen in hand.

Naruto's embarrassment quickly turned to shock which turned to mock anger. "Hoshiko! You ramen thief!" He raced after her. "Come back here!"

"Uzumaki Hoshiko!" called Hinata, severely, as her husband and child ran around the kitchen. "If you drop that ramen, you'll be cleaning it up." Then she smiled, grateful Naruto was back to his old self and playing around with his daughter. Just like the day before.

"Ha!" Naruto took back his ramen and glared at his daughter, who was on the ground laughing. "Can't believe you would take my ramen. I thought I taught you better than that. You don't steal people's food, especially their ram…Eh?" He turned to find his hand empty, the ramen gone. Narrowing his eyes at the offender, he crawled over to where Haruki held the bowl, slightly trembling while Hoshiko cheered him on. "Yo – you…heard…Hoshiko…" he said with a shaky grin.

"Run, Haruki! Run!"

In the midst of Haruki running around now with the ramen, Hinata merely watched them from the table. She was glad this was over and Naruto had the issue he had for so long worried about behind him. The three of them looked as if this matter had not existed; still laughing and having fun like before.

It was just as she told him as they left their bedroom; their children would always love him, no matter what, demon or not.

"Oops!"

"NO! Ramen!"

"I didn't do it, Mommy!"

Hinata sighed, still grinning, and got up to get a wash cloth for the spilt bowl, to assure Haruki that his father was not mad at him for spilling it and to make a new bowl for Naruto as he would be too sad over the spilt one to do that.


End file.
